RUNNING SCARED by Jimmy Huston REVISED SECOND DRAFT JUNE 28, 1985 1 • EXT. CHICAGO - HISPANIC NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY A seedy, rundown tenement area in the midst of a colorful neighborhood. Kids yell in Spanish. Ethnic music blares from ghetto blasters. Churches are Catholic. Signs are in Spanish first, English second. It has the exotic look of another country, but it's actually the Windy City. On a schoolyard lot, there is a furious half-court basketball game underway, with three badass TEENAGERS on each team. Nearby, two spectators don't quite fit in with the DERELICTS and STREET PEOPLE that look on. DANNY COSTANZO, a thirty­ four-year-old free spirit, taps his feet to the rhythm of the music. Wearing jeans, jogging shoes, and a sweatshirt, he can't take his eyes off the game. DANNY He's gotta take the outside shot. They're shuttin' him down inside. His companion, RAY HUGHES fancies himself the strong, silent .member of the two -- slow to anger, slow to cool. Wherever Danny's blustering leads them, Ray backs him up. He-is about the same age, black, and sports an earring in addition to his old jacket, jeans, and running shoes. He sips from a bottle in a brown paper bag, ignoring the basketball game to C watch a squalid te~ement across the street. RAY It's a stupid game, throwing a ball through a hoop. They should be playing baseball. That's an art form. The basketball gets knocked out of bounds, toward Danny. He takes a couple of easy steps to catch it, but before throwing it back, he dribbles it a couple of times. An ominous silence falls over the teenagers as they size him up. An easy smile spreads across Danny's face. Too easy. Ray knows that smile. RAY (hopefully) Give 'em the ball, Danny. Danny looks at Ray. He knows better, but can't help himself. Dreading whatever is about to happen, Ray reinforces himself with another swig from his bottle. Danny dribbles toward the group, imagining a reenactment ~f the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Their honor challenged, the teenagers automatically fall into a formidable defense, one player directing the others. Amid taunts and insults, Danny circles the group, seeking an opening. Faking left, then moving right, he gets past two, but is quickly triple-teamed and cut off. (CONTINUED) 2. i CONTINUED: 1 RAY (still coaxing) Just give 'em the ball. Danny pivots, but-there is no shot. The teenagers close in with a brutal series of elbows. Danny pivots again and deftly passes the ball out of the crowd. Right to Ray. RAY Aw, shit ... But he has the ball now, and there is only one honorable way out. Through the hoop. He sets the bottle down and two winos begin to fight over it. Ray dribbles forward, still trying to keep an eye on the building across the street. The teenagers adjust their defense. Six on two. Ray shies away from the kids, moving to the left. Danny makes a move toward the basket, flanked by two defenders. Ray jumps up as if to shoot, but dumps off a pass to Danny who dribbles once, goes up for a shot and banks it off the backboard. He misses. RAY (disgusted) You. made it sound so easy. But Danny gets his own ·rebound, making an outlet pass to a still reluctant Ray. RAY I don't want the damn ball. Ray passes it straight back, with Lightning speed. Danny catches it and pivots rapidly toward the basket. Right into the swinging fis.t of a defender. Danny goes down hard. Ray is furi.ous. RAY Hey! You belted him, shithead. Amid raucous laughter, one kid grabs the ball and they pass .it around until the tallest player dunks it viciously. The "crowd" roars. Danny sits on the ground, checking the blood dripping from his nose. He spots an immaculate silver Mercedes~gliding to a stop in front of the building Ray has been watching. DANNY It's all right. Let it go. But now Ray is mad, advancing on the teenagers, glaring angrily at Danny. It's all his fault. (CONTINUED) 3. CONTINUED: 1 RAY Let it SLQ.? That could've been me they clobbered. It's a bad. precedent. The teenagers have fallen into line, openly daring the two men to start something. DANNY Forget it. No autopsy, no foul. The teenagers jeer Danny, who is on his feet and moving toward the Mercedes. Ray angrily follows, catching Danny as they pass the winos, who are spitting out mouthfuls of liquid from Ray's paper bag. In disgust, one wino pulls out a Pepsi and heaves it as far as he can. RAY (mad at Danny) You knew damn well they were shutting down the inside! You should have taken the _outside shot! DANNY Sorry. I got carried away. (indicating the car) Check out the Mercedes. 2 ANGLE ON MERCEDES 2 The dark, tinted windows of the Mercedes hide its occupants until a sleazy hustler called SNAKE gets out, wearing filthy jeans and a bright yellow sweatshirt. 3 ANGLE ON RAY AND DANNY 3 They run tqward the Mercedes. RAY That's Snake, but who's driving? DANNY I dunno, but let's bust 'em. RAY For what? DANNY In this neighborhood, a Mercedes is probable cause. 4 ANGLE ON MERCEDES 4 The tinted window slides down and the driver hands Snake a handsome leather briefcase. He is JULIO GONZALES, about (CONTINUED) 4 •• 4 CONTINUED: 4 twenty-eight, good looking, and dangerous. Although driving a top of the line Mercedes, he'll never look right in it. Despite fiery ambition, he'll always be a street punk. RAY (V.O.) It's Julio Gonzales! DANNY { V. 0 • ) Didn't we just put him away? Gonzales looks up and recognizes the approaching cops. GONZALES (to Snake) Quick! Give it back! But Snake recognizes Danny and Ray, and runs with the briefcase. Gonzales speeds away as Snake flees toward the decaying building. Ray and-Danny chase him, but their minds are on the disappearing Mercedes. RAY It's been three years. He ~ould be out on parole. DANNY In a Mercedes ••• ? Snake runs into the building. They charge after him. 5 INT. TENEMENT - DAY 5 Hot on Snake's heels, Danny flies up a flight of stairs, two at a time. Ray is winded and falls behind. At the top of the stairs, Danny finds Snike unlocking a door. Just before he reaches him, Snake steps inside the flophouse room, slamming the door behind him. On Danny's foot. DANNY (in pain) Hey, Snake •.• my foot. SNAKE {O.S.) What do you want, man? DANNY My fuckin' foot, Snake. Ray grudgingly reaches the top of the stairs. RAY Why don't these losers ever live on the ground floor? He sees Danny's situation and laughs. (CONTINUED) ·---' 5. 5 CONTINUED: 5 DANNY I got this gun here, Snake. I'm going to take it out and shoot a lot of holes in this door. If you're leaning against it •.• a lot of those holes are going to be in you .•• Finally the door opens. 6 INT. SNAKE'S APARTMENT - DAY 6 Ray steps into this sleazy dump, enjoying Snake's indignation. SNAKE You got nothin' on me. Danny limps angrily into the room. DANNY Assaulting a police officer's foot. They nose around. RAY We heard you were back in business. We're here to renew your pusher's license. SNAKE Me? I'm clean as a baby's ass~ I been born again. DANNY What's in the briefcase? SNAKE Just stuff. Personal shit. DANNY Like your memoirs? Your S.A.T. scores? What? You won't mind if we look inside? SNAKE You got a search warrant? RAY We can get one. You wanna wait in some real uncomfortable position all that time? Snake doesn't have a chance. He opens the briefcase. It is full of loose cash, mostly small bills. (CONTINUED) j . 6. ! 6 CONTINUED: 6 DANNY (impressed) Holy shit. -· SNAKE There's no law against having money. RAY Level with us, Snake. Is it possible you're dealin' again? (pause) Nah. DANNY We gotta take this place apart. SNAKE Go ahead. See if I care. Danny 'slides the drawers out of a cabinet, dumping the contents onto the floor. 7 INT. SNAKE'S APARTMENT - DAY 7 : Later. The place has been torn apart. Danny is enthusias­ tically overturning the last few items in thorough, if reckless fashion. Snake sits on a stool, openly hostile. At the kitchen table, Ray counts Snake's money. RAY There's fifty thousand dollars here. DANNY I can't stand it. Do you know what I could do with fifty grand? Danny angrily turns over more of Snake's belongings. SNAKE I told you I was clean. ·You wouldn't be persecutin' me if I was wearin' silk suits and livin' on the Gold Coast. This is racial harassment. Ray lunges at Snake and slams him against the wall. RAY What? SNAKE (shaken) I respectfully withdraw the accusation. Ray releases-Snake as if nothing has happened. Snake is getting nervous about all this. (CONTINUED) 7. 7 CONTINUED: 7 DANNY You're busted. ---- SNAKE You got no reason to bust me! RAY We've got fifty thousand reasons ••• SNAKE But you got no crime. Danny crosses to the window and leans out, looking at the crowd of derelicts at the basketball game across the street. DANNY (yelling) Your attention please! That bothers Snake somehow.